Improvement in hand corn-planters



H. F. BATGHELLEIL Hand-Seeder.

Patented Mar. 9, 1858.

. UNITED STATES H. F. BATOHELLER, OF STERLING, ILLINOIS.

lMPROVEMENT IN HAND CORN-PLANTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 19,540, dated March 9, 1858.

- tion ofthe same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making apart of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side view of my improvement. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

This invention consists in the employment or use of a slide and seed-distributing roller arranged relatively with a'seed-box, as hereinafter shown, whereby the slide is made to rotate the seed-distributing roller, and also to force the seed into the earth, the above parts forming a simple and efficient device.

The invention further consists in the employment or use of an adjustable gage-board so attached to the device that it may be removed when necessary for the purpose of allowing the implement to be readily cleaned.

To enable those skilled in the art tofully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

- A represents the seed-box, which is of taper quadrilateral form 5 and B is a cylinder or roller, which is fitted within the seed-box on a horizontal shaft or axis, a. The cylinder or roller B projects considerably through one side of the seed-box, as shown at b, and its face is nearly flush or projects slightly through the opposite side, as shown at c. In the periphery of the cylinder or roller a cell or hole, (1, is made to receive the seed, and a small hopper, c, is attached to one side of the seed-box to receive the seed and direct it down into thelower part of the seed-box, the cylinder or roller B dividing the seed-box into two compartments, f f. A brush, h, bears against the periphery of the roller B and serves as a cut-off, preventing the seed from being broken or cut as the cell or hole d passes through the side of the upper part of the seed-box. The side h of the lower part, g, of the seed-box, to which the hopper is 9 attached, is not attached to the seedbox at its lower end, but is attached to it at its upper end, and the lower end of side his allowed to yield or give, orhas a certain degree of elasticity, and a metal plate, 1', is attached thereto, said plate being bent, as shown in Fig. 2, so that its lower edge will, when the side h of the box is not otherwise acted upon, be pressed by the elasticity of said side h against a metal plate, j, which is attached to a gage-board, 0. (See Fig. 2.) The gage-board (J is attached to the lower end of the seed-box opposite to the side h by screws 70, which pass through slots 1 in the gage-board and into the ends of the seed-box, the slots 1 beingenlarged at their upper ends, so that when the board is shoved downward and the enlarged portions of the slots brought in line with the screws the board may be readily detached, the enlarged portions of the slots being greater in diameter than the heads of the screws. The board may be prevented from moving casually by a hook, a", or any proper fastening. The form of the slots is shown clearly in Fig. 1.

D is a slide, which is fitted between the side m of the seed-box and cross-bars n, attached to the seed-box. This slide is allowed to work freely up and down. It is provided with a handle, 0, at its upper end, and a spring-stop, E, is attached to its outer side, by which the length of its stroke or movement is controlled. This spring-stop is formed of a metal strip or plate attached to the slide at its center, as shown at p, and having its ends so curved or bent as to project outward from the slide to form shoulders q, the plate by being pressed inward at either end allowing the shoulders to pass inside ofthe cross-bars n, and consequently enabling the slide to be Withdrawn :when necessary. This will be fully understood by referring to Fig. 2.

F is a small lever attached to one of the cross-bars n, and having a roller, 1', fitted in one end of it, said roller being made to bear against the slideD by means of a spiral spring, 8. This lever presses the inner side of the Slide against the periphery of the roller B with sufficient force to insure the rotationof the said roller as the slide D-is moved. The portion of the inner side of the slide that bears against the roller B may have a strip of leather,b ,attached to it to prevent said portion of the slide being injured by abrasion.

The operation is as follows: The seed to be planted is placed in the upper compartment, f, of the seed-box A. If the slideD be depressed, it is drawn up by the operator, and the roller B is rotated in the direction indicated by arrow 1, and the seed cell or hole (1 in roller B passes from the compartment f and discharges its contents into the hopper e. The cell d is made of suflicient capacity to hold a requisite quantity of seed, and any proper means may be devised to graduate the size of the cell or vary its capacity, as occasion may require. The seed falls into hopper c and passes down into the compartment g, and is retain ed therein by the spring side h, the edge of the plate 6 being pressed against the plate j on the board 0 when the slide is elevated. The case A is then placed by the operator over the spot a here the seed is to be planted and the plate j shoved into the soil until the lower edge of the gage-board strikes the surface of the soil. The slide D is then shoved outward by hand, and the seed, which, when the slide D was raised, passed down into the compartment g of the seed-box, is forced by the slide into the soil. The slide D, as it is forced down, rotates the roller B in the direction of arrow 2, so that the cell at will again enter the compartmentf and be filled with seed. When the slide has been fully depressed and the seed forced into the soil the slide is raised, the roller B rotating, as before, in the direction of arrow 1, and another cell of seed consequently deposited in the compartment g to be again forced into the soil when the implement is adjusted over the proper place.

By the within-described parts a simple and efficient implement is obtained. In case the lower part of the seed-box becomes choked or clogged, it may be readily cleansed by removing the gage-board O, and as the roller B is exposed at the point where the seed is deposited'into the lower compartment of the seedbox the operator can see that the seed is deposited in every hill.

I do not claim the seed-distributing roller B, for that is an old device and in common use on many kinds of seed-drills; nor do I claim the slide D, for that is also in common use in hand-planters; but,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of the pressure-slide D and seed-distributin g roller B, arranged as shown, and placed relatively with the seed-box A, so

pose set forth.

H. F. BATGHELLER.

Witnesses:

D. F. BATCHELLER, U. N. M. LEMON.

as to operate substantially as and for the pur- 

